India Arie taking stage at Grace Farms trafficking benefit

Grammy singer / songwriter and philanthropist India Arie will perform at a benefit at Grace Farms in New Canaan.Grace Farms Foundation has announced its second anniversary celebration on Oct. 14 from 4 to 9 p.m. to benefit a global campaign to help eradicate modern day slavery. Entitled “Unchain” and created in partnership with WPP agencies J. Walter Thompson, Geometry Global, as well as Thomson Reuters Foundation, and Shazam, the campaign aims to unite public, private and individual efforts to stop the many facets of modern slavery by generating unprecedented public awareness. Arie, a former U.S. ambassador for UNICEF, and supporter of the Half the Sky movement to eradicate the oppression of women worldwide, will headline the evening.The Unchain campaign, expected to launch in 2019, is being developed as part of the Foundation’s Justice Initiative and vision to disrupt and combat human trafficking and gender-based violence. The idea was conceived at Grace Farms last summer, during a workshop hosted in collaboration with United Nations University.After the workshop, the foundation, employing leading anti-trafficking experts, and Geometry Global and Walter J. Thompson of WPP, a media and advertising agency, decided to leverage their expertise and initiate Unchain.“We look far into the future to a world where everyone is truly free and slavery is a thing of the past,” said Foundation President and Chair Sharon Prince.“Together with the help of forward-thinking industry leaders such as J. Walter Thompson, Geometry Global, as well as Thomson Reuters Foundation, and Shazam, we will target all forms of modern day slavery and build a platform that brings communities together to advance good in the world.” There will be locally-sourced food at the benefit. During this evening, Unchain Launch Committee Co-Chairs Jay Fielden, editor-in-chief, Esquire, and Pete Hunsinger, chief marketing officer of Everyone’s Earth and former Condé Nast publisher will welcome Amb. Luis C.deBaca, former United States ambassador at large to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons; Rich Riley, ceo of Shazam; Carl Preller, chief performance officer at Geometry Global North America and Krishna Patel, Justice Initiative director and general counsel at Grace Farms Foundation. A limited number of performance-only tickets to the Unchain Concert from 8 to 9 p.m. are available. For tickets and information, visit gracefarms.org/unchain or contact Megan Mones at: megan@gracefarmsfoundation.org.Grammy singer / songwriter and philanthropist India Aria is taking the stage at a benefit at Grace Farms in New Canaan on Oct. 14, 2017. India Arie